1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to compaction apparatus in general and in particular to such apparatus for use in effecting compaction of refuse in an open top trash container adapted to be picked up by, and its contents dumped into, a lift-equipped trash collection vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Within the past forty years trash collection and disposition has commanded an ever increasingly greater amount of effort and attention. In recent years more and more articles and food products have been packaged in throw-away containers with the result that an ever increasing amount of trash has been generated. Such increasing volume of trash has mandated its being collected and disposed of by municipalities and private contractors.
A conventional way of handling trash, produced or resulting from the operation of business and commercial establishments, has been to deposit such trash in large mobile bins or trash containers having open tops but provided with hinged lids which may be closed. Periodically, trash collection vehicles arrive at such business or commercial establishments and, through the operation of mechanical or hydraulic lifts with which such vehicles are equipped on either their front or rear ends, the contents accumulated in such bins are dumped into the vehicle housing. Most of such vehicles are equipped with mechanical means to compact least to some extent the bin contents after they are dumped into the vehicle housings. When the trash collection vehicle is filled with its somewhat compacted contents, the vehicle must proceed to a refuse dump.
Among the problems arising from this conventional method of trash collection and disposition are:
1. In establishments the operation of which may generate a large amount of trash or refuse, many bins or containers must always be kept on hand. These containers often occupy a considerable amount of valuable space in a parking or docking area--space which could otherwise be utilized to permit ingress and egress of trucks, or parking by customers and patrons of the business or establishment.
2. It has been known that in some cases employees of a business or establishment may remove from the store, concealed in filled trash containers, certain valuable merchandise. When employees take such filled containers outside for dumping, they do so in a preselected bin or container in the parking lot of the establishment. Subsequently, after the employee has left work, the employee may return to such preselected bin under cover of darkness or otherwise, and pull out from such bin or container the merchandise which he deposited in such bin.
3. Vehicle compactors are ordinarily greatly limited in the force which they can apply to effect compaction with the result that, as bins are dumped into the vehicle housing, only limited compaction of the trash or refuse can actually be accomplished by the vehicle compactor.
4. In establishments in which many bins are employed and are filled regularly, it is necessary to have frequent visits by trash removal vehicles to empty the bins. Since trash removal service contracts usually provide for charges based upon the number of bins used and the frequency of vehicle visits to the establishment's premises to empty the bins, such frequent visits and large number of bins can greatly increase the expense of trash removal.
Another system for accomplishing trash and refuse removal involves the use of what is sometimes called a "roll-off box". The latter is a large open top box which, when filled with trash or refuse, is intended to be hoisted upon some type of truck bed to a landfill where the roll-off container may be unloaded in the same manner as a dump truck. However, where the refuse is uncompacted, such a roll-off box may be quickly filled in any establishment which generates a large amount of trash or refuse. Moreover, the establishment is deprived of the use of the roll-off box during the period when the box is being transported to the landfill for dumping and before it is returned. In addition, this type of system requires a rather special type of truck which has means to hoist the huge elongated box-like container on to the truck bed or chassis, and then to effect dumping of the box at the landfill.
One modification of this system, however, is a compacting box such as is offered by Mid Equipment, Inc. in Grundy Center, Iowa. The Mid Equipment "Super Dock Pack 430" is provided at one end with an arcuate receiving door and a horizontal compactor somewhat similar to the type of compactor which is found in many trash collection vehicles. While this modified roll-off box effects a certain degree of compaction, and thereby diminishes the frequency of the times when the box must be transported to a landfill and emptied, it provides only a limited compaction because the force of the compactor is dissipated against the trash as it accumulates in the full length of the box. In addition, the Mid Equipment packing box is somewhat expensive compared to ordinary containers and does require a special truck for its handling. The system is still subject to the problem of requiring another packing box at the user's premises during the absence of the one box during its transportation to the landfill for dumping.
In addition, Union Hydra-Fab, a division of Union Environmental Corp. in Wayne, Michigan, has devised and offers a container with a built-in horizontal compactor. The entire combination may be lifted up and dumped by a front-end, lift-equipped trash collection vehicle by means of special heavy brackets that the container has built into one of its sides. While such a built-in horizontal compactor can increase the quantity of trash which may be put into the container, the entire unit necessarily becomes quite expensive due to the cost of the attached compactor. Additionally, the container walls must be made much heavier and better reinforced than standard containers in order not to be distorted under the pressure of compaction. Such reinforcement is also necessary so that no distortion of the container occurs when the entire unit, including the attached compactor, is lifted up on to the trash collection vehicle for dumping. Where a single container is sufficient to receive and hold all deposited refuse generated by the establishment during period between arrivals of the trash collection vehicle, such a compactor container combination may offer certain advantages. However, where the establishment generates more refuse than can be handled by a single container, even with compaction, it becomes necessary for the establishment to buy additional expensive compactor-container units to hold its trash between trash removal vehicle visits.
Another system utilized in the collection and disposition of refuse involves a transfer compaction trailer. This could be a trailer-mounted body having approximately 65 to 75 cubic yards of storage capacity which is attached to a stationary compactor. The charging box of the stationary compactor is loaded with refuse and the compaction ram forces the material into the trailer body. When the trailer body is full, it is hauled to the landfill and a hydraulic ejection blade is actuated which pushes the refuse compacted within the trailer body out through the rear doors of the trailer into the landfill. A special hauling truck is required, however, and at least a second expensive trailer should be available for attachment to the compactor when the other trailer is being hauled to the landfill.
Still another system involves the use of stationary compactors with vertical rams in which the compacted refuse may be baled or otherwise contained into predetermined size packages. The packages, then, may be dumped into some type of container, including conventional open-top bins popularly utilized in commercial and business establishments. Such a system is essentially the same as that employed in many households. Its chief limitation, however, arises from the fact that the compacted refuse mass becomes quite heavy so that when its weight begins to exceed about 60 pounds, personnel involved in transferring the compacted mass into a container bin may find that they are quite strained in their efforts to lift the compacted mass over the side wall and dump it into the bin. Obviously, it would become quite impractical to have any large compactor which would produce a compacted mass weighing much upwardly of 100 pounds.
Thus, it may be seen that there have been various problems and limitations with each of the presently utilized refuse, collection and trash disposal systems.